BHUBANESWAR: Even as an uneasy calm prevails in Kandhamal district, the State Government has found the villain behind the strife.

The Government asserted on Saturday that the riots were not triggered by conversion. The violence is not because of conversion, Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy told mediapersons.

“We see the attack on a police station at Brahmanigaon village as handiwork of Left Wing extremists,” Home Secretary T K Mishra said when asked about the role of Maoists in the violence.

Police, he said, had evidence that ‘the attack on Brahmanigaon police station on December 27 was carried out strategically in a manner not possible by ordinary villagers. Trained hands could be behind the attack’.

The involvement of Maoists was evident after the recovery of 12 unlicensed guns from the village, he claimed.

Mishra clarified that the Government has not received any memorandum demanding more stringent anti-conversion laws.

He, however, maintained that the Government has an open mind on the issue. Mishra also ruled out the possibility of the trouble spreading to other parts. The Government is keeping a watch, he said.

Justifying the bar on politicians, he said such visits would hamper relief and rehabilitation operation. The fact-finding team of the Congress will have to wait, he said.

The Congress team which wanted to visit the district today had to return from Soroda. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced a package for the riot-hit families of the district.

KOLKATA, Jan. 5: While trade union leaders are preparing themselves for the bargaining agent election at the Uttarpara plant of Hindustan Motors scheduled for 9 January, district police officers are fearing action by Maoist ultras during the poll. To thwart any possible attacks by Maoist rebels, district police officers urged the SP, Hooghly, Mr Rajib Mishra, to provide special security cover to ensure peaceful polling.A suspected member of the Maoist action squad, Peoples’ Liberation Guerrilla Army, Sumit Sarkar, was arrested from the factory premises on 10 May, last year during a clash between two groups of the plant’s employees. The clash ensued after the factory management issued a suspension-of- work notice citing “labour unrest” at the plant.Officers from Midnapore-West and their counterparts in Purulia had interrogated Sarkar who was wanted in a few cases of criminal conspiracy against the state. Interrogation revealed that CPI (Maoist) activists had been trying to build a support base in the industrial hub of Hooghly, by cashing in on the stand-off between the management and employees of Hindusthan Motors’ Uttarpara plant. Sleuths of the district Intelligence branch and Criminal Investigation Department were informed about some leaders of a labour union, which is one among five trade unions fighting the polls. Movements of these leaders belonging to a Naxalite trade union are being watched. Mr Prabir Roy, inspector-in-charge of Uttarpara police station, said the security arrangement proposal made by the police station to the district police authorities recently, had not been granted. The officer, however, didn’t disclose what kind of “security cover” the police station sought to thwart untoward incidents. “We are gathering Intelligence inputs. We have deployed policemen in plainclothes who are keeping a close watch on the factory premises. We are patrolling the area. Some pickets have been posted at various corners of the factory premises,” Mr Roy said. Mr Mishra said adequate police arrangements would be made to ensure peaceful polling.Mr Sunil Sarkar, CPI-M Hooghly district secretariat member, said: “It has been established that some leaders from trade unions have connections with Maoists ultras. They had attacked supporters belonging to our trade union. We have asked our supporters to stay alert.”

SAMBALPUR, Jan. 6: A day after arson and robbery in the forest range house at Badrama, police gunned down two Maoists at Cheptikani-Gadpati village in the Jamankira police station area, 55 km from here last night. This is for the first since the Maoist operation in Sambalpur began in 2003 that police killed two of its cadres. Such incidents took place in neighbouring Deogarh district earlier.

Two spot deaths apart, six people, including few women, have also been injured, sources said.It is believed 15-20 people were caught in the crossfire last night when combing operations were on by the special operation group inside the forest.

Police seized two SLR and three 303 rifles and a country-made revolver from the Maoists. Twelve to 14 Maoists fled, taking advantage of the dense forest and darkness, Sambalpur Superintendent of Police, Mr Sanjaya Kumar, said. This is believed to be the same group that attacked and ransacked the Badarama range office on Friday night, the SP said.The deceased are identified as Raj of Rengali-Badmal and Kalia Mirdha of Laikera Bahal villages, police said. With villagers’ help, police identified the bodies which were sent for post-mortem to the VSS Medical College.

Raipur, Jan 7//Indo-Asian News Service// – Police Monday claimed to have killed several Maoist guerrillas in an early morning raid on a hideout in Chhatisgarh’s restive Bastar region.

‘The police raided a hideout of the rebels in a forested area under Koyalibera police station in Kanker district of Bastar region and caused heavy casualties (to the leftist guerrillas),’ Pawan Deo, deputy inspector general (DIG) in Kanker range, told IANS.

‘We found heavy blood stains at the encounter site and enough evidence that rebels’ bodies have been carried deep inside the forest during the 90-minute fierce gun battle,’ the police officer said.

The police recovered three rifles, 36 detonators, four bundles of wires used for landmine blasts, pipe bombs, tiffin bombs, Maoist uniforms and literatures.

The leftist insurgents run a parallel government in forested interiors of iron ore rich Bastar region that comprises of five districts – Bastar, Dantewada, Bijapur, Narayanpur and Kanker – and is spread out in about 40,000 sq km.

The state recorded 436 deaths in Maoist violence 2007 including 200 policemen and special police officers (SPOs) and 165 civilians.

A top woman Maoist leader has been arrested from the Garwah district of Jharkhand, police said Monday.

Acting on a tip off Sunday night, police arrested Vineeta alias Simppi, a zonal commander of the Communist Party of India-Maoist (CPI-Maoist), from Bardari village of Garwah district, about 140 km from Ranchi.

Police said she had masterminded more than a dozen Maoist attacks in Jharkhand. She is accused of attacking a Home Guard training centre in Giridih district in 2006 and looting around 200 police rifles.

'Vineeta had joined the CPI-Maoist group 15 years ago. She was active in Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh,' said a police official.

She was lately involved in spreading Maoist propaganda. She used to show villagers CDs with images of police torturing innocent people in the name of anti-Maoist operations.

According to a police official, Vineeta is an expert in handling sophisticated weapons and making landmines.

Maoist rebels are active in 18 of the 24 districts of the state. Nearly 1,000 people have been killed in Maoist related violence in the state in the last seven years.

After the Indian Institute of Space Science and Technology, the State capital is getting another training institute of national importance.

The state police is setting up an intelligence training centre at the Police Training College here in association with the Intelligence Bureau (IB). The institution will be named,

‘South Zone Intelligence Training Institute’.

While the administration of the training centre will be with the state police, training will be imparted by officials from vthe Central Intelligence Bureau.

The setting up of the intelligence training centre assumes significance in wake of the suspected presence of terrorist activists in the state.

The recent arrest of a Kashmiri native with suspected links with Hizbul Mujahideen from Kumily and a Maoist leader from Angamali are instances of this.

Besides police officials from the state, police officials from the neighbouring states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Lakshadweep would also be provided training at the centre.

Home Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan will inaugurate the training centre on Monday. IB Director P.C. Haldar will preside over the function.

RANCHI: Under renewed attack from the Jharkhand government, Maoists are trying to match the establishment not only in fire power, but also in terms of ‘social security'. Communist Party of India (Maoist) recently gave compensation to families of their cadres who died during anti-Naxal operation by the police.

According to sources, the compensation depends on the hierarchy. The families of some of the cadres killed during anti-Naxal operations in Latehar and Chatra areas were the first beneficiaries of the scheme, the sources said.

"We have received information from different sources about the Maoists giving compensation to families of their cadres who lost their lives during anti-Naxal operation by police," said Mallik.

He said the Maoists were trying to implement the scheme in all the Naxal-infested districts of the state. Police said the compensation goes up to a couple of lakhs of rupees. It's not only compensation, but in some cases, the Maoists have also taken over the responsibility of school-going children of their dead cadres, the police said.

A fast track court in Patna on Friday awarded death penalties to the three members of the now-defunct People's War Group, a schism of the Maoist rebels, for their involvement in the 2004 massacre in Lahsuna in Masaurhi during which several people were killed for casting their votes in favor of Janata Dal (U).

Justice Om Prakash of the fast track court, however, ordered release of three accused in the lack of sufficient and credible evidence.

The carnage had taken place on May 18, 2004 when nearly a 100 armed Maoist guerillas swooped on Lahsuna village and shot them to death after dragging them out of their homes.

Those who were awarded the capital punishment are Sujit Kumar, Arvind Singh, and Manoj Singh. The court, however, set Umesh Singh, Sahdeo Singh, and Yogendra Singh free in the lack of sufficient evidence.